_Can’t make it to the Big 12 and NCAA Tournaments? Can’t read enough about the Jayhawks? Just like random bits and pieces with your hoops talk?_ [The Greene Room][1] _is hitting the road to give you all three. Check back at KUSports.com every few hours over the next few weeks to read new entries, as KUSports.com editor Ryan Greene follows all of the action on and off the court from Oklahoma City, and then every March Madness sight the Jayhawks happen to visit._**8:33 p.m., Sunday March 11, 2007** There’s no need to crow on that Texas pick. They proved again they’re capable of hanging with the nation’s hottest team.Though while the Longhorns were up to the task, there was no question who the more mature team was on Sunday.Between the two rosters, there was just one senior (Texas’ Craig Winder). KU, though, has been through the fire, and they have this incredible mentality to them at this point, which will make it tough to pick against them again the rest of the way. You can sense it just in the way that they talk now, compared to the way they were at the beginning of the year. They don’t speak so loosely now. They seem as focused a bunch as you’ll find, and if they can handle the distractions at home in Lawrence this week and next, they should be OK for awhile.When KU topped Texas 90-86 a week ago in Allen Fieldhouse, the Jayhawks watched the Longhorns have another ridiculous offensive first half, but were able to match them in terms of accuracy, and it didn’t seem too far-fetched that KU would come back. This time, Texas got off to a similar start, and instead of resembling last Saturday’s Jayhawks, KU looked more like Rocky Balboa from his first fight with Clubber Lang in Rocky III – punchless and without a chance.But just like Texas did two nights ago against Baylor in a similar first half situation, the Jayhawks didn’t panic. They stormed back, and in the run, left everyone with a multitude of memories from this one. Mario Chalmers’ three from the top of the key to send the game into overtime, Darnell Jackson’s block of D.J. Augustin followed by both Jackson and Russell Robinson putting home clutch free throws late – it all melted into one memorable performance. KU truly earned its one-seed next week.As far as the bracket goes, don’t let the names intimidate you as far as the West regional goes. There’s more basketball history than most can comprehend if you add up the likes of KU, Duke, Kentucky, UCLA and Indiana, just to name a few. But while, with the exception of UCLA, all of these schools carry weight, none of them have lived up to the names on the front of the jerseys this year. There’s no reason to believe KU won’t come out of the West. On paper, the only team that should really give the Jayhawks a challenge is UCLA. **_-Kevin Durant certainly deserves some love for what he again did to KU_**. Unless the two teams meet to play for a National Championship on April 2, Durant will never face the Jayhawks again.In two games against KU in eight days, Durant averaged 34.5 points per game. But he never came away with the stat that truly mattered – a ‘W.’ Instead, KU will be to Durant what Florida was to Peyton Manning while at Tennessee.**_Might as well get the two cents in, as my initial bracket has been completed_**. Final Four: Florida, KU, Georgetown, Texas A&M.Championship game: Florida, Texas A&M.National champ: Texas A&M.**12:50 p.m., Sunday March 11, 2007** While the Big 12 Tournament is just about done, one thing certainly isn’t…I know that I have at least one (probably three) more games to hear the KU band play “Shot through the heart.” I swear, after hearing the KU band play it now 30 times-plus this year, I’m ready to swear off of the song forever. It now makes me cringe. Then again, I’m probably not the only one who can lay claim to that about Bon Jovi.Before KU and Texas tip, lets get the bits and pieces from this week out of the way:**_-[Mike Rigg][2] is a zeus of sorts_**. The former 6News sports anchor has made it, 22 games out of 22 games. He wins nothing more than the right to go home and sleep for two days straight (That means he wins no added respect from me or Wood). Probably not worth the expended bodily and mental anguish when you look back at it.**_-I came to Oklahoma, and true to form saw the mullet to end all mullets_**. Some guy outside of the Ford Center last night had a blonde ‘do which was partyin’ in the back all the way down to, well, the small of his back.**_-I came, I saw and I conqured the [Waffle House][3]_**. Wood and I went last night. It was everything we had hoped and dreamed of. Gotta give Wood credit. It was his one goal coming down here to go there, and he sacrificed a potential steak dinner on the company’s dime for the $5.69 All-Star Special, with complimentary extra grease for your stomach’s delight. They truly, truly, truly need one in Lawrence. Wood, without his wife knowing, will probably keep it in business.**_-Kevin Durant is gonna go off today_**. He was money during the warm-ups, though it was pretty funny to see him stand and stare down the court at Danny Manning warming up with the KU players. He respects the game’s history, and you’ve got to in turn respect that about him.Pregame prediction: Texas 74, Kansas 67. Durant scores 33, D.J. Augustin 31. KU gets a No. 1 seed, plays in Chicago Friday and Sunday, then San Antonio over my birthday.**6:32 p.m., Saturday March 10, 2007** Maybe this whole three games in three days thing isn’t such a big deal afterall. At least KU players will tell you that.All year, outsiders have tried to dig and claw to find a down side to Bill Self recruiting all the McDonald’s All-Americans a roster could possibly hold. There’s been concerns that selfishness might arise. Or that with all those guys being on the same level, this team doesn’t have one true go-to guy.Saturday, after KU worked K-State for the third time in 2007, the Jayhawks made an argument for the other side of the ledger.”I’m pretty used to it from high school,” freshman Darrell Arthur said. “AAU, we had to play back-to-back-to-back. We had a lot of time to rest. We had the early game yesterday, so we had ll day to rest yesterday. Coming back, we had fresh legs. I know everybody came from a big elite (AAU) team, and they play back-to-back-to-back, so they’re used to it.”When asked what was the most games Arthur ever played in one day, he was quick to answere: Five.That’s the thing, Brandon Rush, Julian Wright, Sherron Collins, Mario Chalmers, all of those guys, as long as they’re getting proper rest afterwards in the 24 hours between tip-offs, they couldn’t possibly be bothered by the schedule.**_-If KU has yet to lock up a No. 1 seed this weekend_**, which is probably no longer the case, what’s going on in the rest of the country certainly hasn’t hurt the Jayhawks’ case. In case you haven’t been paying close enough attention, KU’s strength of schedule seems to look better and better by the hour.-Northern Arizona, who KU dusted 91-57 to open the season, made it to the championship game of the Big Sky conference tournament before bowing out to Weber State.-Oral Roberts, who shocked KU 78-71 in the Jayhawks’ second game of the year, won 23 games and blew through the Mid-Con tournament.-Southern Cal, who KU registered a 10-point win over in early December, made a run through the Pac-10 tournament before getting trounced by Oregon in the title tilt.-Boston College (ACC) and Toledo (MAC) both made it to the semifinals of their league tourneys.-Rhode Island upset top-seeded Xavier to make it to the Atlantic-10 finals.If KU is not a one-seed at this point, then, in the words of Gary Bedore, I’ll eat my shoe.**_-Kevin Durant was at it again on Saturday_**. Seriously, if he drops 50 on the Jayhawks Sunday, nobody should be surprised. Friday night it was a huge second half. Saturday against Oklahoma State, he had a 19-point first half, scoring only seven in the final 20 minutes, but that included a dagger of a three-pointer atop the key which finished off pesky Oklahoma State late.In the tournament, it can take that one magical player to put a team on his back and take them the whole way. Joakim Noah did it last year, Sean May the year before, Emeka Okafor before that, and the list goes on and on. Durant’s getting an early start in his conference tournament, and is doing it with ease.**11:24 p.m., Friday March 9, 2007** I lightly made a joke with Wood on my way out the door around 8:15 tonight that my reason for going to watch the Texas/Baylor quarterfinal was because I wanted to be there when Kevin Durant dropped his first hundy-spot.By halftime, he was one-twentieth of the way there, and was 1-for-13 from the floor.Mission not accomplished.Though having seen the first half he had a week ago in Lawrence, there was no reason to believe that Durant couldn’t lead the Longhorns past a mere 18-point halftime obstacle. [Texas won 74-69][4], Durant scored 24 of his 29 points in the second half, and Baylor wilted despite all the support in the world. To Durant’s credit, too, that 1-for-13 showing might as well have had an asterisk with it, because he had about five or six shots in close that were half way down before mysteriously popping out.Seriously, it was a home game for the Bears. They had a small sampling of fans in green and gold, but every KU and OSU fan in the house was in Scott Drew’s corner. Didn’t matter, and there’s no reason to believe anyone’s going to beat Durant this weekend after seeing him again prove he’s the closest thing college basketball has to a divine power. I see him as the product of what you’d get if you rolled Larry Bird’s ability and Appollo Creed’s confidence into a warm tortilla shell and let them melt into one (kind of like ordering a burrito at Chipotle to go, but not opening the foil for a good 20 minutes so all of the ingredients mesh into a tasty goulash).There’s just something about that Texas team, too. They never once looked frazzled, even running off the floor for the intermission. They played the entire game with this strange aura that they knew they’d pull it out. They’re young and brash, which are two qualities which should scare everyone in their path the rest of the way.(Quick sidenote: Texas might have fewer fans here than any other school. It’s incredibly weird.)(One more: Baylor’s Aaron Bruce by far wins the weekend’s award for best on-court hair. He’s wearing a very trendy mini-mullet which would fit in perfectly down the street at the Skky Bar.)**_-But if KU goes down shy of another Big 12 Championship trophy acceptance_**, take it with a grain of salt. While they have a great shot at winning this thing, it wouldn’t be the end of the world if K-State or someone on Sunday gets the best of the Jayhawks.Look, there’s no question the Jayhawks are the most talented team here this weekend, but even Bill Self himself today admitted that playing on Sunday can create mixed feelings for coaches and players.That would have definitely been the case if Texas lost, as it would have taken just about all of the prestige out of this thing.True, it’s another day of rest, but more importantly, if KU is going to make a run for a national title this year, answer this: When was the last time a team ended its season on a 17-game winning streak? That’s what it would take for the Jayhawks to clip the nets both in Oklahoma City and Atlanta.Adding another chip on the shoulder before the official March Madness ensues wouldn’t be such a huge tragedy.See you tomorrow from the Ford Center.**5:11 p.m., Friday March 9, 2007** So far, Friday afternoon in the Ford Center has gone as planned: The higher seeds won the day’s first two games and Bob Knight held another memorable press session.KU played all right. The Jayhawks weren’t great, but luckily for them, they didn’t really have to be today.This was a bad Oklahoma team. Jeff Capel certainly deserves a couple of pats on the back for what he’s done with that team this year. Outside of senior Nate Carter and sometimes senior Michael Neal, no one on that team is a very good one-on-one offensive threat, and their depth is, well, non-existent.Games like that leave the media with nothing really to do but nit-pick. So here goes:**_-Sherron Collins still has yet to dunk_** in a game this season. He passed up another beauty of an opportunity Friday in the open court in the second half. Remember, the kid is capable of doing [this][5]. But heck, two points is two points I guess.**_-You knew that if Brandon Rush had a productive second half_**, this game wouldn’t be much in question. You have to wonder if Rush’s teammates ever get frustrated. They will tell you Rush is the pulse of that offense when he’s on, and he’s the best scorer they have. It’d probably be tough to recall the last player who was more invisible in the first half of a game and then had more of a dominant-yet-smooth impact in the final 20 minutes.**_-Just a hunch, but if KU plays like it did Friday_**, K-State has a great shot of knocking the Jayhawks out of the Big 12 tournament a day earlier than many expected. The ‘Cats were incredible Friday. After the game, Lance Harris pointed out that the team came down here looking to do more than lock up an NCAA Tournament bid – they came to win the whole thing.KSU shot 48.1 percent from the field, hit 10 three-pointers, owned Texas Tech on the glass and channeled the Red Raiders’ offense so well that only one player in red did anything of note. Jarrius Jackson scored 28 of Tech’s 45 points, but needed an Iverson-like 24 field goal attempts to do so.Granted, doing that to a team like KU will be much tougher, but they played spirited, rested and relentless basketball. Tomorrow might be even tighter than [KU’s 71-62 win][6] in Bramlage in February.**_Other notables from Friday’s early session_** Most of the interesting stuff took place in a 10-minute span in the podium area.**First was K-State coach Bob Huggins**. You can truly tell that the guy has been around and knows how to massage the system that is the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.First, he said this: _”But, you know, the whole deal about whether we are in or not, it’s ludicrous. I mean, when you think about it, we’ve got two teams in our league that are both playing for a one seed. And Texas has got to be, what, a three or a four? So then you are going to tell me from one through three and then the next best team in the league, which has been us, that we’re not in the best 65 in the country, as good as this league is? I haven’t really honestly paid all that much attention to it. I felt like we were in before we played this game.”_Like any good coach, he’s going to bat for his team, playing the politician and stating their case in the most convincing of ways (I happen to agree with what he said, too).But he stroked the committee’s ego right here, which was a good move on his part, to end his press session: _You know, they say play better at the end of the year. We are 12-4 in our last 16 games. Texas is playing great. I mean, A&M is playing really, really well._I’m not on the committee, so I let – and I honestly think the people have done a wonderful job over the years. It is a hard job. It is a hard job. It is a job you don’t get a whole lot of credit for, you know. When it is all over with, nobody comes on T.V. and says, God, they did a wonderful job. They come on T.V. and start ripping on them about why didn’t this team get in, whey didn’t that team get in.It is a hard job. It is a thankless job.I told your guys, all we can do is do what we do and that’s go win games. You drive yourself crazy sitting there – I’m not Joe Lunardi. I just try to control the things that we can control. The only thing we can control is how well we can play.”Here’s another chip that should be in K-State’s favor, though.All of those same experts seem to be holding [West Virginia][7] back because of one snag. The Mountaineers are 22-9 overall, went 9-7 in the Big East (a.k.a. college basketball’s deepest league) and won an opening round game in their conference tournament before bowing out to Louisville in the quarterfinals. The feather in their cap should be a [70-65 win over No. 2 UCLA][8] on Feb. 10. But everyone, ESPN mostly, refuses to give too much credit because UCLA played the game without point guard Darren Collison (who is a wee-bit overrated, by the way).OK, well what about Kansas State? It had to play the final 17 games of the season without its best player, freshman phenom Bill Walker. The ‘Cats went 12-5, including a win at Texas.Huggins is right. They were in before Friday.**The biggest fireworks before the dinner break** came during Bobby Knight’s press session…surprise, surprise.Knight took control of the press conference from the second he got up on the stage. He proceeded to do the typical Knight stuff, with the borderline language and such. He only fielded four questions from the packed house. Here were two highlights:**_Writer_**: Why weren’t you guys able to get anybody going other than Jackson offensively?**_Knight_**: Well, it could have had something to do with what we had for breakfast. I don’t know. We may have eaten the wrong cereal. We may not have had the proper lighting in the locker room or maybe Kansas State was pretty damn good defensively and maybe we were a little bit tired. I would like to think that I already covered that sufficiently….later…**_Writer_**: If you make the NCAA, are you concerned about being able to turn around from round one to round two? If you win round one, are you worried about turning around for round 2?**_Knight_**: You have a day off.**_Writer_**: One day makes a difference?**_Knight_**: Goddamn, you don’t think one day makes a difference? I mean, if you had to run five miles today, could you run five miles tomorrow? Would you rather wait until the next day? Damn, you need to get some exercise, boy.He did say one thing indirectly that most informed folks can agree with: Conference tournaments are nothing but a money-making joke.A true league champion is the team that emerges from a 16-game schedule over two months with the best record, not a team which can simply get hot over the course of three or four days. These tournaments give the conferences something to pat their own backs over just because, well, they can.Though I will say that it gives me one more chance to watch Kevin Durant play in person, and I’m taking advantage of that in a few hours. So we’ll talk to you then.**1:05 p.m., Friday March 9, 2007** Ryan Wood just spotted the sign of the day in Section 111:”Make it rain JuJu”Man…the phenomenon’s sweeping the nation.**12:35 p.m., Friday March 9, 2007** Oklahoma junior guard David Godbold yesterday after his team’s win over Iowa State pointed out how their conditioning is really kicking in late in the season.If you’ve watched today’s first half, that is brutally apparent. OU is not tired, and they again are truly playing like a team who doesn’t want its season to be finished yet.Brandon Rush is still looking timid on the offensive end, which was a problem late in the season. He’s taken passes on a few open looks. Here’s a not-so-bold prediction: If he scores 12 points in the second half (had three in the first), KU will win.It’d be hard for KU to lose this game, though, anyways. Oklahoma is an atrocious team offensively. They’ve made two air-balls look like alley-oops in one half. That’s about the same number you’ll see in the _Journal-World_ Friday morning pick-up sessions. They shot just 39.3 percent in the first half. KU wasn’t atrocious, going 11-of-25 from the floor.See you after the game. That is if you’re still awake.**11:20 a.m., Friday March 9, 2007** First off, ‘aeroku’ is going to be tough to beat in this little contest of ours. That’s a lot of anytime minutes to sacrifice.We just nestled in courtside for the start of Friday’s action. Upon arrival around 10 a.m., Texas was on the floor practicing, and Kevin Durant made a shot from 45 feet away, kicking the ball up to his head, balancing it up there for eight seconds, and then rolling it down, making the ball do three hands around the rim created by his arms before dropping it back down to his Nikes and booting it in, nothing but net.OK, not really. But after last Saturday’s first half in Allen Fieldhouse, tell me you honestly didn’t believe it for about 4.2 seconds there. Seriously, though, it’s going to be a fun day in the Ford Center. After the KU game comes two of basketball’s most entertaining coaches in Bobby Knight and Bob Huggins. Then a suddenly-awake Oklahoma State team takes on Acie Law IV and Texas A&M. And if you can say you dislike Law, well, then you’re lying.The teams have just taken the floor, so we’ll talk at halftime.**1:53 a.m., Friday March 9, 2007** I just realized a couple of hours ago that this blog went largely disregarded on my part today. Why’s that? Well, not much going on if you’re down here covering Kansas.Before hitting the hay, here’s what we learned today (
